1939 Claud Butler Ultra Shortbase Tandem

[dan73uk]

Re: Re:

Was there much fettling to the new brake pads to make them fit?

Nope - the new pads pushed in as if they were designed to fit. They are just marginally short for the holder...

I haven't (can't) set them up yet and test them but it looks like they should be OK. Will obviously report back as and when I have a new cable made up and and get a functioning brake.

That's great, I'll get some for when I get a set of Resilion's

 

[dan73uk]

Re:

Did you find a matching pedal, To either the single one or the other three?
If not I should have one to match the existing three.

 

[sherlylock]

Re: Re:

Did you find a matching pedal, To either the single one or the other three?
If not I should have one to match the existing three.

Ooo yeah, if you have one to complete the set of 4 that'd be great. Let me know if you find it.

Bit more progress today......but not a huge amount. Bought some grey cable outers - and cut to length. Started to clean up and plate some of the small fittings. Need to buy some silver solder and flux next to solder the cable nipples on and to create the 2 way split.

Initial round of corrosion removal and cleaning up all the components on the rear brakes.....will hopefully plate these next week.

 

[Old Ned]

Came to this after seeing it on the tandem thread on RBoM. Excellent work, especially the plating. I was offered one of these for free a few years ago with Trivelox gearing but didn't have the space for it. Beginning to wish I'd taken up the offer now!

 

[sherlylock]

Came to this after seeing it on the tandem thread on RBoM. Excellent work, especially the plating. I was offered one of these for free a few years ago with Trivelox gearing but didn't have the space for it. Beginning to wish I'd taken up the offer now!

Ha! Not sure I really have space for this one to be honest.....not sure where it's going when its fully built up that's for sure.

Yeah the plating has been a bit of a revelation - nice to know I've now got a method to protect all those smaller parts that get cleaned up in a resto.....nuts, bolts, brackets, clips etc. If it's not nailed down I'm plating it at the moment!

Not sure how much corrosion resistance it'll offer (i.e. not sure how well I've plated the bits, how thick it it etc....) I guess some testing is in order!

 

[sherlylock]

Silver solder (or sodder for our american friends!) has turned up so I've had a play with it after work this week in an attempt to actually get one of the Resilion cable forms finished.

I started by re-soldering the nipples at the caliper end - feels like this is the most logical place to start with regards to re-assembling everything. I don't think it can be done in any other order due to the aluminium housing that covers the 3 way join needing to be slid into place after the join has been soldered.

Cable splayed into the cone recess in the nipple.

Flux applied to the joint and then heated up until it glows, solder touched in until it fills the cone. I found that some solder had flowed through the hole and onto the cable so I turned it around and reheated until the solder flowed back into the nipple (using gravity) - which also resulted in the nice domed finish on the nipple.

Started to clean up and plate the smaller parts of the cable assy

Going together nicely. Jagwire logos removed from the cable outer using Acetone.

This is where I potentially f'k it all up - trying to solder this joint after I've crimped it, and the nipple at the brake lever end without melting the cable sheathing. Not sure how well this will turn out.....not sure how to stop the heat travelling up the cable and melting the cable liner. Some sort of heatsink needed to divert it away I guess.

 

[Old Ned]

Damp cloths laid over/around the area you don't want heated can work. I've had difficulty soldering cables due to their oily 'coating' even after degreasing. With silver soldering and its high heat this may not be a problem?

 

[sherlylock]

Damp cloths laid over/around the area you don't want heated can work. I've had difficulty soldering cables due to their oily 'coating' even after degreasing. With silver soldering and its high heat this may not be a problem?

First attempt at soldering cables and degreasing didn't seem to cause an issue - cleaned everything with acetone prior to soldering and used the appropriate flux. As you say - may be because it's a higher heat that means it's not a problem.

Successfully crimped and soldered the y-joint and assembled the rest of the cable and finally soldered the lever nipple on to complete the cable assembly.

Comparing the new front cable to the old rear...

Fitted up the cable to the cantilevers and then to the lever. Everything fits OK so I guess the jig I created did it's job, and I was careful to match the cable lengths accurately.

Happy days, a working front brake! A lot of work to re-make the cable and quite time consuming but probably the most rewarding job I've done on a bike resto to date.

Got to do it all again now on the mahoosive long rear cable......

 

[Old Ned]

Excellent. Should only take half the time now you know how to do it..........................

 

[dan73uk]

Re:

That work looks great on the front cable.